Rams center John Sullivan, left, leads running back Todd Gurley on a run against the Arizona Cardinal last December. Sullivan signed a new two-year contract with the Rams on Friday, March 16, 2018. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Rams filled a potentially huge gap and brought back an important veteran Friday when they signed center John Sullivan to a new two-year contract.

Sullivan became an unrestricted free agent this week but had been expected to return. NFL Network reported that Sullivan’s new deal is worth a total of $15 million.

That’s an enormous increase over last season, when the Rams paid Sullivan $1 million on a one-year contract. At that point, though, Sullivan was coming off an injury-filled period, and his future was unknown.

Sullivan thrived in 2017 and was considered a leader on an offensive line that did a strong job both in protecting quarterback Jared Goff and in blocking for running back Todd Gurley.

Sullivan turns 33 in August, and Rams coaches and executives recently have spoken about their desire to develop younger offensive linemen. Sullivan could serve as something of a mentor to last year’s backup, Austin Blythe, or to any other center the Rams might draft.

Rich Hammond was a high school senior when the Rams left town in 1995, and now he's their beat writer for the Southern California News Group. A native of L.A., Rich broke in at the Daily Breeze as a college freshman and also has covered USC, the Kings, the Lakers and the Dodgers. He still loves sports and telling stories. Don't take the sarcastic tweets too seriously.